Aroma Restaurant and Buffalo Bar — Restaurant in Oakhurst

Went for Mother’s Day after booking a reservation through OpenTable, only to arrive and learn they DO NOT have an OpenTable acct and didn’t have our reservation. While they were completely booked, if we didn’t mind waiting they would fit us in roughly an hour. We went to the bar, had cocktails and their Steak bite appetizers which were accompanied with dressing, salad components and chunks of Blue Cheese that were incredible in taste. In just under an hour they were able to seat us (after Jasmine the mgr was repeatedly checking on us at the bar) where my wife ordered the salmon and I the steak and frites. Our waitress ‘April’ did a great job and we started with additional appetizers of the mixed green salad and their garlic bread. Both were excellent and I must say the garlic bread caused my eyes to roll back because it was so delicious. My wife said her salmon was fantastic (very plentiful and fresh) and my roughly 12 ounce boneless ribeye was unequivocally one of the best steaks I’ve had in the past year or longer. Cooked to purrrrfection, topped with light seasoning it truly melted in my mouth. Even now writing this review my mouth is watering as if the steak is about to be served!! While they boast that 100% of their deserts are home made, and while they had several, we were sooo looking forward to trying their strawberry cobbler. However, we were so full after the appetizers and dinner we couldn’t Even consider desert…..but I guarantee we will on our next visit, which WILL BE very soon. Just before leaving we met Lyndsey, one of the chefs & owners. We learned of her earlier experiences which included time in LA training with some very well known chefs which is obvious after tasting their food. Between the number of food selections, both the QUALITY and size portions combined with the professional staff and reasonable pricing, we cannot say enough good things about this restaurant. When combined with the location (in the mountains close to the gates of Yosemite National Park) and the mountain ambience, there is no better way to spend a...

The restaurant appears to be under new management, the last time we were here, it was one of the best meals we’d ever had, and we’ve traveled food wise internationally. The lemon drop was the only thing that was decent. We should have left after overhearing that the bartender ca in sick. My wife’s bloody Mary tasted like something you’d get at a AMC bowling alley. I ordered salmon that was $45…it was dry with little sauce, and tasteless, totally inedible, and the asparagus was cooked for maybe 15 seconds. The bruschetta with served with no cutlery so by the time we got cutlery, it was basically soupy. My wife ordered lamb chops. And they were dry, tasteless and inedible. When I complained about the food, I was offered a $12 credit towards my uneaten $45 salmon. If I were you, I would steer clear of this restaurant… The server, Kevin was amazing but the food was awful. There is another fine dining restaurant in town that is much more expensive, but I would much rather pay more for edible food. Hopefully the management takes notice of reviews and makes necessary adjustments… The dining room was largely empty on a Sunday. We are headed down the hill to order a pizza or get Taco Bell to fill our stomachs. We came to celebrate my birthday and left entirely disappointed. I’ve never been to a fine dining restaurant that charged for food that was inedible, not offering a replacement.

*Update…. I feel MUCH better, just got 15 minutes down the road to our Airbnb and successfully threw up what I DID eat at this place, and I’m starting to feel much better, so it’s...

I had the chicken wings and the fettuccini pesto-alfredo. Both were strange. The wings: I've never seen wings with such thick breading. And they left the skin on which means under the thick coating of breading there was a soggy layer of fat and skin that couldn't crisp up due to all the breading. The flavor was decent, however surprisingly salty considering they were served with an array of sauces on the side (buffalo, bbq, and what may have been blue cheese). Why did they need to be so salty if they're meant to be dipped in sauce? The fettuccini pesto-alfredo: Even worse than the wings. I dont think they should even be calling it an alfredo sauce. It was more of a cream sauce with a decidedly soupy consistency. There was a green tinge to the sauce but since it didnt taste much like pesto, I assumed it was just from the finely minced green stuff on the top (looked like parsley?). One of the dishes and one of the knives at the table were dirty, which I swapped for clean ones from another table (it took me two tries because the first one I grabbed was dirty too). I liked the decor and ambiance, but with such a nice atmosphere and such high prices, I had been expecting a higher...